jeffcrom

Introducing Jimmy Cleveland (EmArcy)

Wonderful record - it includes the best version of "Harlem Nocturne" that I've ever heard. I was thinking last night that it's the only version of that tune I actually like enough to want to hear again.

Jack Montrose - With Bob Gordon (Atlantic black label)

Illinois Jacquet - Swing's the Thing (Verve deep groove). This is a delight; Roy Eldridge is in excellent form.

Stan Getz - West Coast Jazz (Norgran yellow label). This is the record from my recent haul that's in the worst shape, and it still sounds pretty good. A little surface noise, but it's not bad at all, and the basic sound is nice and warm.

I started playing the records from my big score yesterday. They cleaned up very nicely - mostly to a solid VG+; some a little better. Started with: Bob Brookmeyer - The Modernity of Bob Brookmeyer (Clef) Now I'm playing a record I never expected to ever see: Anthony Ortega - A Man and His Horns (Herald) I'm a pretty happy boy right now.

Happy Happy!

Impressive showing, and very well deserved!

I was out running errands this morning, and decided on a whim to put into one of my regular stops, a used book/CD/record store. They had just bought a collection from the 1950s. Some were not in good shape, but I picked out 12 which are dirty, but basically in good condition: Introducing Jimmy Cleveland (EmArcy) Lars Gullin - Baritone Sax (Atlantic) Illinois Jacquet - Swing's the Thing (Verve) Maynard Ferguson - Jam Session (EmArcy); with Herb Geller, Bob Cooper, Max Roach, etc. Shorty Rogers - Wherever the Five Winds Blow (RCA Victor) Interpretations by the Stan Getz Quintet (Norgran) Stan Getz - West Coast Jazz (Norgran) Jack Montrose With Bob Gordon (Atlantic) The Modernity of Bob Brookmeyer (Clef) Jim Hall - Jazz Guitar (Pacific Jazz) The Touch of Tony Scott (RCA Victor) Anthony Ortega - A Man and His Horns (Herald) All for $5-6 dollars each.

I've learned from some of my New Orleans friends that Uncle Lionel Batiste is apparently in the terminal stages of cancer, and that his doctors have recommended hospice care. Uncle Lionel is 81, and is a national treasure. He has been the bass drummer with the Treme Brass Band since the beginning of that ensemble. He's also an engaging singer (he's got a CD out on GHB as a vocalist), but more importantly, he has been a role model and "uncle figure" in New Orleans for years. His standard greeting to his younger fans is "How are all my little nieces and nephews this evening?" One evening in the late, lamented Donna's on Rampart Street while the Treme BB was performing, I stood at the side of the stage and concentrated on what Mr. Batiste was playing, and I was amazed at the creativity he brought to the bass drum. His playing helped me understand the impact that Black Benny Williams had on Louis Armstrong; when I read Satchmo: My Life In New Orleans as a kid, I didn't understand how a bass drummer could impress a youngster and excite an audience in the way Armstrong described. When I hear Lionel Batiste play, I get it. Every time I've visited New Orleans, Uncle Lionel has been on the scene, hitting the clubs, sitting in with the bands, dancing with the young ladies. I'm sad tonight.

The Birdland Stars on Tour Vol. 1 (RCA Victor)

Lou Donaldson - Signifyin' (Argo promo mono)

Clark Terry Sextet featuring Ben Webster - More (Cameo mono)

That's so crazy it just might work!

Very little of the content on my Kindle (not a Fire) was purchased from Amazon. I've downloaded many books from the Gutenberg Project and other sources. And whenever I find a jazz article or discography in PDF form, I put it on my Kindle. I still love my "real" books, but the Kindle is pretty cool.

Sunny Murray - Big Chief (Eremite)

That's magnificently awful.

Some fine straight-ahead piano on vinyl today: Kenny Barron - 1 + 1 + 1 (Blackhawk). I enjoy hearing Mr. Barron with just a bassist - he played a duo gig in Atlanta about 15 years ago with Neal Starkey, the city's first-call bassist. I've always liked Michael Moore, whose talent is much greater than the size of his discography. John Hicks - In Concert (Theresa)

Done - November.

Money sent. I like the idea of fundraisers three times a year - you'll actually get more money out of me that way. I say thanks for getting rid of the ads - and thanks for providing this place.

Have a good one, James!

Stopped at a record store this evening and walked out with half a dozen new slabs of vinyl. Just played: George Cables - Cables Vision (Contemporary). This one got me thinking about Max Harrison's dictum that all music is dated - that it all reflects the period in which it was created. This is a good album, but parts of it are somewhat dated in a negative way. Bill Barron - Variations in Blue (Muse). This one seems timeless.

Unimportant correction: I'm not sure what I was thinking - I guess it would be a "C" card rather than a "U" card.

For the first time in quite awhile, I pulled down my boxes of cassettes from the closet shelf tonight. I found two items I had forgotten about - cassette singles by jazz artists from 1983. Back in the day, I saw these advertised in the back of Downbeat, thought they looked kind of cool, and ordered two. The label is All Star Jazz, as far as I can tell, and the artists are Red Callender and Bill Perkins. The cassettes have a U card rather than a J card. (I just lost all the younger folks....) The Perkins U card lists the correct personnel; the Callender, not so much. There is no recording date or other recording info on either, and the source of these was a mystery to me for many years. Now, with easier access to discographical information, I see that the Perkins sides, which include Pepper Adams and Gordon Goodwin, are from the 1978 Interplay album Confluence. The two Callender sides, "Chris" and "When the Saints Go Marching In," were separated by 16 years; "Chris" is from the Crown album Red Callender Speaks Low, and "Saints" is from a mostly-Dixieland album from 1973, on the Legends label. The only things these two tracks have in common is that Buddy Collette is on both of them. These were a lot of fun to listen to tonight. Does anybody else have any of this series? If not, I must claim that my collection of cassingles is second to none.

Dave Brubeck Quartet - Jackpot (Columbia 2-eye stereo). Some really nice Desmond here.